Nine full-page & one double-page woodcut illus. and one vignette. Four vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, old stitching. [China]: Dun hua tang 敦化堂, 1718.

A commercial edition of the Confucian Document Classic, probably intended for candidates for the civil service examinations.

The Document Classic, or Venerated Documents, “was recognized during the Han dynasty as one of the ‘Five Classics’ and has served for more than two-thousand years as the foundation of Chinese political philosophy. The text contains the earliest writings in China’s traditional literature, with some chapters dating nearly a thousand years before its recognition as a classic” (Edward... More

More than 400 collotypes. Ten vols. Small folio, orig. blue wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, orig. stitching. From the colophon (in trans.): Shanghai: Shang wu yin shu guan, 1924.

A fine and very rare edition of the earliest calligraphy collection of China. “In 992, the third year of the Chunhua reign (990-995), by command of the Song dynasty Emperor Zhao Jiong (reigned 976-998), the Court Calligrapher Wang Zhu selected masterpieces of calligraphy in the imperial collection. He had them carved in stone, and then had rubbings made which were mounted into an album. As a collective album... More

Many woodcut illus. Mongnok in one kwŏn & 14 numbered kwŏn, in ten volumes. Small folio (300 x 223 mm.), orig. wrappers (wrappers a little soiled & stained), handwritten title & kwŏn numbers in black ink on each upper cover, new stitching. [Chirye, Kyŏngsang-do]: [Kyŏngho yŏngdang], [Postscript dated 1824].

Possibly the first edition (see below) of this illustrated compendium of the Family Rituals (Ch. Jiali 家禮), popular in 19th-century Korea. Integrating a large number of earlier Chinese and Korean works on the subject, this compendium is one of the most comprehensive of its kind.

The Family Rituals, a collection of... More

20, 28, 10; 14, 38; 22, 23, 25 folding leaves. Printed with metal movable type. One kwŏn of illustrations & seven numbered kwŏn in three vols. Small folio (334 x 220 mm.), orig. semi-stiff wrappers (rubbed), handwritten titles on upper covers, old stitching. [Hansŏng]: [Kyosŏgwan], colophon: 1759.

A rare and early illustrated Korean edition of the Family Rituals, printed with musinja 戊申字 metal movable type at the royal publishing house, Kyosŏgwan 校書館.

The Family Rituals, a collection of ritual prescriptions compiled by the great Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130-1200), was one of the most influential ritual texts in Chŏson... More